Millennials, Attention Deficit, and Technology: Today’s Shopper Psyche and Its Effect on the In-Store Environment

In today’s society, our lack of attention span, need for excitement, and obsession with the latest trends – technology or otherwise – has a great effect on how people shop. While younger generations, Millennials included, are a driver for this change in behavior, it can also be recognized that the rise of technology has played a significant role. This change in shopper psyche affects how retailers need to position themselves to best attract these shoppers. Particularly in the context of brick-and-mortar, retailers large and small are expected to constantly reinvent their brand, as well as their signage, fixtures, and in-store technologies to keep up with the latest trends.

The result? Retailers are undertaking and executing more merchandising projects than ever to keep shoppers engaged and returning to the store, because this is where you experience the product and the brand in a tactile way; it’s where the physical connection is made, and this sensory experience is one that keeps the shoppers returning to form opinions on a product or a brand. However, if the in-store experience becomes stagnant, they will stay home, shop online, or seek other storefronts or retailers that fulfill these needs. Given that the large majority of purchases are still happening in the store, the result of less traffic, quite obviously, is less revenue.

So the question becomes, how can retailers more effectively navigate the arduous tasks of planning, managing, and executing on the multitude of merchandising projects required to keep their in-store experience relevant?

The answer lies in better visibility into the people, process, and materials required to execute these projects, specifically, technology that you can leverage from ‘C-suite to shop floor.’ Role-based, task-driven, and empowering to the varying levels of your organization, the right software can shorten project timelines, accelerate decision-making by providing visibility, and unify the members of your organization in their individual business units, adjacent teams, and external vendors.

Retailers who see the constant change and state of flux within their stores as an opportunity and not as an obstacle have an inside-track on gaining market share and experiencing greater success in the coming decade. With a focus on efficiency and optimization of their workforce, the retailers that lead in this area will gain distinct competitive advantage over those that follow; maintaining a constantly evolving and exciting atmosphere for their shoppers, which will drive more foot traffic. The bottom line: despite the rises of online and mobile shopping, more shoppers in your store still means more revenue.